The third heatwave episode of this scorching summer, which is coupled with “drought” vigilance throughout the territory, shifts Thursday to eastern France where Météo France expects up to 36°C in Strasbourg and 38°C In Lyon. Twenty-six departments placed in orange vigilance from Wednesday, at the peak of this new episode, will remain so for this day on Thursday, from the South-West to Burgundy and Alsace, and from Languedoc to the Alps. Fifty others are in yellow on the Météo France map.
It will be 37 to 39 locally on the Southwest and from the German borders to the Rhone corridor with night temperatures which will have remained between 18 and 21 degrees or even 24 locally overnight from Wednesday to Thursday.
A few stormy showers
On the other hand, a north wind will come to refresh Brittany on Thursday and a wide band north of the Seine and on the coasts of the Channel, again in green on the map, with, at daybreak Thursday, 13 to 17 degrees. This cooling heralds a milder weekend before a further rise in temperatures early next week. However, this third heat wave was to be shorter than the previous one, which ended on July 25 and lasted 14 days.
A few sometimes stormy showers are also expected on Thursday. But not enough to allay fears related to drought.
July 2022 is “the second driest month of all months combined” in France since the start of measurements in 1958-1959, with a cumulative aggregate rainfall of 9.7 millimeters, according to Météo France. So far, the driest month on record was March 1961 with 7.8 millimeters.